1. Technical Field
This invention relates to remotely operable locking systems and, more particularly, to a remotely operable door lock interface system.
2. Prior Art
Over the years, incidents relating to home burglaries and theft have steadily increased. This increase has concerned the consumer and these concerns have lead them to invest in more elaborate home safety devices, including the use of dead bolts, burglar alarms, a combination thereof, or the like. Though these devices are known to work successfully, they may not offer the protection needed for some consumers. For example, some consumers do not have their keys ready for insertion into the lock and many find themselves searching through their belongings in hopes of finding their keys quickly. Such a pause in opening the door is a perfect invitation to a thief, robber or the like for jumping, attacking, harming or robbing the individual. In other situations, someone may have their hands full of groceries, a child, or the like. This causes their hands to be occupied and unavailable to quickly and efficiently unlock the door, which is a typical, yet potentially dangerous, scenario.
As such, devices have been developed to assist the consumer and to inherently decrease the time needed to enter a home. One such device is a keyless entry dead bolt lock system that includes an actuator, which is coupled to a conventional dead bolt mechanism via a connection rod. Though this design will allow for the dead bolt to operate from a remote control unit, it suffers some shortcomings. One such shortcoming is that this prior art configuration requires the device to extend horizontally across the door. The horizontal displacement can be obtrusive and bulky, thereby producing a product, which is not aesthetically pleasing, something undesirable by many consumers. In addition, the design and configuration of the connecting rod to the conventional dead bolt and actuator is such that after extended use, it may dislodge therefrom. The dislodgment will defeat its intended purpose. Further still, this system is solely utilized for dead bolts and does not address other locking systems typically used in a home, office or the like.
Accordingly, a need remains for a remotely operable door lock interface system in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a remotely operable door lock system that is easy to install and use, is compact in design, provides convenience and time savings, and has the ability to provide an increased level of safety in a home or business establishment. Such a system advantageously eliminates the need to search for one's key in order to open a locked door, thus reducing the amount of time needed to enter a locked residence or business. A do-it-yourself enthusiast finds the installation of this system quite easy, since the system is virtually similar to installing a conventional lock or deadbolt assembly.